For example:

　　I've been in the doghouse with my mom and dad ever since they saw my grades from last semester. I admit that I failed math and barely passed English, but these are tough courses!

　　自从我妈妈和爸爸看到我上学期的成绩单以后，他们一直对我很生气。我承认，我数学不及格，英语也勉强及格。可是这些课程都是很难的啊！

　　在美国人当中，离了婚再结婚的人也不少。有的时候，双方跟前夫或前妻都有孩子，结了婚两家合在一起孩子就更多了。这就会产生很多问题，不仅孩子之间会发生矛盾，而且还会影响夫妇之间的感情。下面就是一个丈夫在说他生活中的麻烦。

　　My wife and I each has a son from our first marriages. Somehow, her son always likes to disturb my son when he's doing his homework. The other day I tried to discipline him and that got me in the doghouse with my wife。

　　我跟我太太之前的婚姻都有一个儿子。不知怎么回事，每当我儿子做功课的时候，她的儿子总是喜欢捣乱。那天，我想给他定点规矩，结果却使我太太对我很生气。

　　表示处境困难的习惯用语还有between a rock and a hard place。Rock是石头，hard place是坚硬的地方，石头本来就是硬的，如果夹在石头和另一种很坚硬的东西中间，相信处境一定很艰难。

　　For example:

　　Lisa finds herself between a rock and a hard place. If she decides to stay with her husband, she'll be beaten from time to time or even killed one day. If she is determined to divorce him, he probably will kill her before she hires a lawyer。

　　利萨发现自己真是进退两难。要是她决定和她丈夫继续过下去，她会不断地挨打，或者甚至哪天被打死。要是她决心跟他离婚，她可能还没有找到律师，就被她丈夫杀了。